US 12,192,096 B2
Performance tracing for mobile network environments
David John Zacks, Vancouver (CA); Flemming Stig Andreasen, Marlboro, NJ (US); Robert Edgar Barton, Richmond (CA); and Timothy Peter Stammers, Raleigh, NC (US)
Assigned to CISCO TECHNOLOGY, INC., San Jose, CA (US)
Filed by Cisco Technology, Inc., San Jose, CA (US)
Filed on May 24, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/323,134.
Prior Publication US 2024/0396829 A1, Nov. 28, 2024
Int. Cl. H04L 45/00 (2022.01); H04L 43/10 (2022.01)
CPC H04L 45/26 (2013.01) [H04L 43/10 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method comprising:
obtaining, by a mobile network, a trigger from an enterprise to initiate an underlay-level trace for a wireless device of the enterprise, wherein the trigger includes a correlation identifier that correlates the underlay-level trace with an enterprise-level trace for the wireless device; and
providing, by the mobile network, the underlay-level trace for a session of the wireless device that involves a data flow for communications traversing the mobile network between the wireless device and an enterprise service of the enterprise by including a first trace flag in Internet Protocol (IP) packets of the data flow for the session of the wireless device via a user plane function (UPF) of the mobile network for a downlink direction of the data flow for the session and via one of the wireless device or a radio unit (RU) of the mobile network for an uplink direction of the data flow for the session and by including a second trace flag in encapsulations of the IP packets of the data flow for the session of the wireless device via the UPF of the mobile network for the downlink direction of the data flow for the session and via the RU of the mobile network for the uplink direction of the data flow for the session, wherein the first trace flag and the second trace flag are unique to the session of the wireless device and are to enable network elements of the mobile network to provide underlay trace information for the underlay-level trace for the session of the wireless device to a trace database within the mobile network, wherein the underlay trace information is stored in the trace database in association with the correlation identifier and session identifying information for the session of the wireless device.